Solentia
The Archonic Imperium of Solentia is an average-sized nation in the south-east of Majatra characterized by its extremist, Totalitarian government. Recently, the warring factions of Nuncirism and Panterranism have united and formed a perpetually totalitarian government through the use of a battery of foreign treaties. With the disappearance of the Nuncirist faction, the nation has taken on the qualities of Archonism, professed to be the most brutal and oppressive of Terran governments. However, policy is still friendly to the Nuncirists and Panterrans. Current Government The current Solentian state is arranged to give complete power to the ruling class of Panterran theory, the aristos. The legislature is merely a rubber stamp of the ruling powers and true authority lies in the Cabinet. The Head of State is not elected but plays an important role in Solentian society; The current Archon Imperator (head of state) is "Deus," a character who is more of a concept than a real person. Deus originated in the Nuncirist Party nearly a hundred years ago, so all foreign observers hypothesize that he is something of a symbol of the State. He is often compared to the Panterran concept of the Pantamorph. Deus guides society even though he is likely not alive and his existence allows the populace to personify their love for the State on one person. The Head of Government is the Archon Praetor, probably a real person whose name is Aristophon. The Praetor rules over the cabinet supremely and is only second to the Archon Imperator in Potestas. The Cabinet is controlled by the ruling parties who represent in one fashion or another the Panterran, Nuncirist, or Archonist movements. Each cabinet member rules supremely over his department, which is in turn arranged in a strict hierarchy. Culture and Society Solentia is controlled absolutely by the Archons. This ruling class is unrestricted in its power and abuse of power while the populace is often called 'a nation of slaves.' Culture revolves around a love and devotion for the State: in Solentia there are no families, no relationships with other people, and no time for personal concern. All concerns and friendship are focused on one's duty to the state. History of Solentia The Demos The lower classes compose around 95% of the Solentian population. Their sole purpose is to provide stability and happiness to the 5% of Solentians who are the Aristos. The life of a typical Solentian might progress as follows: A State program oversees the impregnation of women whose purpose is to bear children. Genotypes and phenotypes are analyzed to produce the perfect member of the working class; an ideal member of the Demos will be strong, productive, loyal, and dependent on authority; however they will also suffer from certain genetic afflictions that will limit their life spans suddenly and abruptly, so that the transition from worker to death is quick and efficient. Upon being born, A Solentia child will be raised in a State institution where they will learn how to love and depend on the state and how to blank out all other emotions. Their education is brief and ends at age 10. Here, children begin their work, labor being the most common occupation. Some will begin training for life as an official, scientist, or office worker of some sort. Marriage never occurs, since emotions to others are replaced by a love for the State. In addition, most Solentians will never have children, as perhaps 10% of the fittest are selected for reproduction when they reach 25 years. By the age of 50, most Solentians of the lower class will die from one of several mid-life genetic diseases that are selected for in the population. The Aristos This ruling class composes only 5% of the population. Years ago, the Aristos was nearly 40%, but over the years the transition from Panterranism to Archonism has corresponded with a reduction in the size of the ruling class. This abysmally low percentage of rulers was only made possible by a slow transition during which the Demos was reduced to insignificance and all opposition wiped out of the collective conscience. The life of a typical member of the Aristos is as follows: The ruling class engages in free marriages, although the society is misogynist and women are generally deprived of rights. A young children is not raised by his parents until he is 9 years old. Before this point, he has been raised in a State school to ensure his compliance with Archonist doctrine for his entire life. Schooling occurs until age 18, when through meritocratic testing he is assigned a job of some sort. Employment is always involved in the governance of the Demos and the country in general. A strict hierarchy must be climbed in order to reach higher rank. Corruption is prevented by several watching-agencies run by the higher officials. By age 30, men and women must be married; if this does not occur, they are generally assigned a partner. Those higher in the ranks are given higher child quotas than those lower. The entire State is arranged in a somewhat age-dependent manner. The older one is, the more experience one has and the higher in the ranks one is. The cabinet is entirely composed of men older than 60 years of age. The life expectancy in general is 90 years. Important Documents The various totalitarian movements in Solentia have issued legislation and edicts outlining their revolutionary policies. The most important of these documents and analysis are given in this section: State of Highest Emergency (Requisition and Enablement) Act 1: Effect Period and Declaration of the State of Highest Emergency (1) The Government, through consensus of the governing party/ies, may institute a State of Highest Emergency. (2) A State of Highest Emergency may be cancelled after at least two (2) years by a majority of the Parliament. 2: State Powers under a State of Highest Emergency (1) During a State of Highest Emergency, the Parliament's powers will be transferred to the State, other than Constitutional powers. (2) During a State of Highest Emergency (heretofore referred to as the "SHE"), all Parliamentary legislation which disagrees with State policy is automatically repealed for the duration of the SHE. (3) The Ministry of Finance will be the sole ministry exempt from the Parliamentary power transferral. Decisions of the Ministry of Finance must still be governed by Parliament. (4) The State may merge, split, create and disband political entities other than non-State parties at its will. 3: Powers of Police (1) The Police may disregard Habeas Corpus and similar laws which may prevent its jurisdiction. (2) During an SHE, a new crime is developed entitled "Crimes Against the State". (3) Any Criminal Against the State will be brought personally to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for safekeeping and re-education. (4) Police will have ultimate jurisdiction over the definition of Crimes Against the State during an SHE, but ultimately it is defined as "The wilful dissent against ideological and pragmatic items imposed by the State at any time." (5) Parties branded as Criminals Against the State may be barred for the duration of the SHE from legal existence. 4: This Act (1) This Act will be passed by a majority of the Parliament of Solentia. (2) This Act binds all of Solentia in equal and indistinct measure. Analysis This document was produced in 2281 by the Inner Party Nuncirist Congress in an attempt to solidify power over the country. This is the first known example of an authoritarian or proto-totalitarian document being passed by the Solentia legislature. The document is very cordial in its treatment of democracy and attempts to please the still diverse and broad collection of parties. The effect of the document was the practical removal of legislative power from the legislature for some time. However, this effect was diminished and disappeared in later years as the Nuncirists wanned in power. But on the whole, this document provided a template for many of the later totalitarian movements to follow: declare a state of emergency, and then seize control. Pax Solentiana PREAMBLE The nations of the world have been infected with the sting of liberty and have taken to ways of dangerous autonomy and independence. Solentia proposes a new way forward, whereby the Government can establish itself as a stable, secure and strong entity at the lead of the nation. Therefore, we, the peoples united of the signatory nations, propose to create a general Vanioka-Nuncirist Union whereby these nations will become fully protected Districts of Solentia, and experience the general security, the great stability, and the massive strength of the hegemonic Empire led by Deus (may He live immortally). PART 1 - General Principles Article 1. Signatory nations agree to submit themselves into Solentia as an Imperial District ruled by the Vaniokas and the Nuncirists, thus falling under the grounds of the Vanioka-Nuncirist Hegemonic Empire. Article 2. Signatory nations agree to permanent union with Solentia and permanent rule by the Totalitarian Coalition in Solentia and Deus (may He live immortally). Article 3. All patriotic elements of signatory nations will cease, and the Solentian flag will be flown, the Solentian motto be recited, the Solentian anthem be sung, et cetera, et cetera, within the signatory nations. Article 4. Signatory nations agree to this Constitutional Pax Solentiana without fail, and agree that the Solentian government will have the ability to overrule any decision of the District government. PART 2 - International Status Article 5. Signatory nations will cease autonomous rule as nations and be represented by the Vanioka-Nuncirist Empire of Solentia. Article 6. Signatory nations will agree to the permanent title of "Solentian District". Article 7. Signatory nations may not have representation in any conference; may not have any international representation in any event without the approval of all parties in the Totalitarian Coalition of Solentia. Article 8. Deus (may He live immortally) will be respected without fail in signatory nations. PART 3 - Powers Article 9. Signatory nations have no powers. The Solentian Government will have full control of these nations. Article 10. A nominal District Government may be elected, so long as this Government is under full control of the Solentian Government. Analysis This treaty was produced in 2315 by the Inner Party Nuncirists again. However, it was published by the Panterran party, which held the powerful foreign affairs ministry. These circumstances are typical of the situation at that time: the totalitarians held power, but only through an alliance of many competing ideologies (note that the treaty mentions "Vanioka-Nuncirist" because yet another authoritarian movement was that of the vanioka party). The motion of the document is internationalist. At the time, Solentia was considered an empire and was attempting to conquer other nations in the same vein as the Deltarians. The very name name of the treaty comes from the similar treaty "Pax Deltarosko." However, this overly optimistic treaty reflected the carelessness of the invasion idea: upon the inevitable failure of the invasion of Kazulia, the Totalitarian alliance fell apart and failed outright with the return of liberalism. It would be a decade before the return of the Totalitarians, but this failure taught the movement a lesson. No longer would they be involved in risky schemes and half-hazard plots, but now careful planning would be employed along with the far more powerful tool of treaty locks. Perpetual State of Exception: Imperial Emergency Decree of MMCCCXXXII A malevolent, insidious, cancerous, nefarious plague is sweeping through Solentia, through the cities and the townships and all the provinces, through the common man's mind and the wealthy man's belongings, through the businesses and schools and shops, and through the very lifeblood of our great nation! An enemy to all is stirring. Of course, I am speaking of the Terrorists who have been gnawing at the foundations of Solentian life for eight years now. I am speaking, of course, of the traitorous criminals who have been stealing and slaughtering to fund their rebellion against the empire and against Solentia. But now, with the shops closed, the blinds drawn on every man's home, the troops guarding the Capital, and the eyes of the nation sealed shut, it is time, good Solentians, it is time that we act! SIC ACTO CONCILII SOLENTIAE FACIAT, PERPETUUM TEMPUS EXCEPTIONIS: IMPERII CONSULTUM DISCRIMENIS MMCCCXXII THEREFORE, LET IT BE ENACTED BY THE SOVEREIGN LEGISLATURE OF SOLENTIA, A PERPETUAL STATE OF EXCEPTION: IMPERIAL EMERGENCY DECREE of MMCCCXXXII The following State of Exception shall exist indefinitely and shall override all previous mandates of the State of Solentia. I. Surveillance and Security: i) The National Security forces shall be given the power to: a. arrest any inhabitant of Solentia indefinitely and without charge; b. interrogate suspects of terrorist acts as seen fit; c. surveil any inhabitant of Solentia as seen fit. ii) The Minister of Justice shall oversee the trials of convicted terrorists. iii) Those found guilty of Terrorism by the Ministry of Justice will be stripped of all rights and placed under the complete control of the National Security forces. iv) The Head of Government shall be in command of the National Security forces; veto powers and oversight shall be given to the Head of State. II. Emergency Governmental Mechanisms i) The Head of State may at any time declare a "State of Crisis" in which the following will occur: a. all businesses shall close; b. curfew is imposed for all non-security forces between 1700 and 900 hours; c. those in violation of curfew shall be shot on site; d. food rations shall be determined and distributed by the Ministry of Health and Social Services; e. all privacy and personal rights shall be suspended. ii) The Head of State and Head of Government may declare a "Governmental Inquiry" that shall last for six months in which the following will occur: a. the action of all governmental entities not determined as "essential" by the Head of Government will be suspended; b. all legislative, judicial, and executive powers will be transfered to the Cabinet. Analysis This bill was quickly passed into law by the legislature in 2332. The document is in many ways a replication of the "State of Highest Emergency (Requisition and Enablement) Act" passed by the Nuncirists in 2281. It calls for a state of emergency in order to concentrate government powers. At this stage, the Totalitarians had the power to rule the government with some certainty. Bills of this sort provided a framework within which these movements could rule without interference from liberals in the legislature. However, the Totalitarians soon realized that this was only a temporary arrangement. Constitutional amendments could not be passed and in practice the rule of the tyrants was constantly being threatened. To solve this problem, they would look once again to Deltaria, and where the Totalitarians had failed in the past, they would succeed in the future. Future Actions In 2344, the Panterrans allied with the Nuncirists after years of conflict and passed a massive battery of international treaties. These documents forever locked into place the Totalitarian regime. After so many attempts, this was the first long-term, lasting effect of the Totalitarians that could not be ignored: no new parties can establish themselves in Solentia to this day. Archonic Doctrine and Constitutional Protocols ~~PRAETOR OPTIMUS HOMINUM OMNIUM~~ THE ARCHONIC CONSTITUTIONAL PROTOCOLS ESTABLISHED by the immortal rights of the ARISTOS to rule over the DEMOS RESOLVED for the maintenance of the STATE of PERPETUAL EXCEPTION EXECUTED in the interests of the ARCHONS and the values of the PRAETOR ~~PREAMBLE and DOCTRINE~~ When Solentia stood on the verge of ruin, and the chaos of progress and the endless, mindless turning over of factions driven by the eternal pendulum of action and reaction had lain Solentia to dust, the TOTAL STATE and the Totalitarian method were sought as a solution, a means to end the endless instability of popular madness. Yet, the unbridled suggestion of unquestioned power led the rulers to seek out something greater than the halting of change; for the absolute mediation and moderation of that fascist method softens the mind and makes a nation weak and even tolerant of slow, venomous modifications. And so the ruling Class of Archons arose, and with the truest freedom ever had, they possessed a fiery force of power unknown to any of the past rulers. And the New Rulers of Solentia in their buoyant extravagance and untold acts of selfishness and oppression, now have lain forth a new order: Which makes Nuncirism seem insignificant and childish Which makes the Fascists seem sparing and generous and the Panterrans seem naive and sentimental. ARCHONISM now rules without concern for moral pathways and Utopian designs. Archonism rules for the pleasure of power and the exercise of the freedom of abuse of Imperium and the unbridled freedom for the Rulers to do as they please: an Archonic nation is a nation of slaves ruled by a contingent of men more free than anyone before them. For the freedom to exercise arrogant, unrivaled, unrestrained, unkind power is true freedom more than anything else. ~~And so, The ARCHONS demand that the signatories accept these IMPERATIVES of their rule~~ 1: (i) The people must be deprived of all powers and rights. (ii) The populace is considered not to exist. (iii) All necessary steps must be taken to ensure that the people of a nation are practically null. Thus, they must pose no harm, they must not produce opinions, they must not influence policies, they must not complain, they must not want, they must not need. 2: (iv) The Representative nature of the STATE must be abolished. (v) The STATE is supreme over the populace. (vi) The STATE serves to (a) reduce the populace to a state of nullity and (b) acts as an instrument of enjoyment for the Ruling Class, the ARCHONS. 3: (vii) In order to achieve a state of nullity, the populace must be (a) removed of all dissent to the STATE, (b) bow to every whim and decision of the STATE, © love the STATE and love nothing else. (viii) Care must be taken to ensure that the STATE never feels sympathy to the needs of the populace, and that reform can never be enacted from within the ARCHONS by members brainwashed with liberal concerns. Analysis This treaty is the final statement of Totalitarian evolution in Solentia. With the future secured, the stability gave rise to Archonism and exploitation of power never seen before in Terra. The Panterranists had wanted to make the state supreme for the popular good, but with stability comes arrogance: the Archonists see the supremity of the State as a tool for their own enjoyment and the pleasure of power. Foreign Policy On an entirely separate issue, Solentia's foreign affairs are dominated by the membership in the Axis Agreement. Solentia is a leading member of the organization and has arranged several conferences to strengthen the organization's standing in Terra. Electoral History See: Presidents of Solentia, Elections in Solentia Category:NationsCategory:SolentiaCategory:Majatra